Archive for month: April, 2018

One of the most disputed issues in any divorce is child support. Usually, you find that the parent who is most likely winning the case, intends to limit the other parent’s time spent with the child proactively. And in most cases, you will also find that other ex-spouses attempt to underreport their original income to limit the amount that they will have to pay for child support.

Either way, you should know that paying child support is obligatory in California, but with one exception. This article will highlight some of the child support guidelines that have been set in the state of California.

Overview of child support guidelines

In California, both parents are required to always provide child support to their young children in case of any separation of the spouses before the children come of age. Usually, the amount of child support that each parent puts into the child support is based on the circumstances that the parents are in at the moment. This means that the child support that each parent puts up is based on the amount of income they make.

Both parents are obliged to contribute child support for the child until the child is 18 years old when the state officially recognizes the child as an adult. As a parent to the child affected by your separation between you and your spouse, you are allowed to put more money in your child support amount than required, but must never pay any amount below the one stated by the court.

If both parents fail to reach an agreed child support amount, then the parties can agree to file a motion for a temporary child support order that will be active throughout the divorce period. The temporary child support order will only be active until the court activates a permanent order.

Child support add-ons

Add-ons such as child health care and other forms support also qualify as mandatory and need to be paid in addition to the child support as stated in the child support laws in the state of California. In this regard, the court usually orders each of the parents to pay half of the child care expenses that are needed by the parent who has custody of the child.

Retroactive child support payments

Usually, the retroactive child support payments are made when the non-custodial parent fails in his/her duty to provide child support during the specified periods. In such cases, the court usually issues an order that will have the non-custodial parent making child support payments earlier that when the actual order was made.

The consequences that come with child support

You need to know that child support payments are not categorized under taxable income, and so these payments cannot be written off by the parent paying them on their income taxes. The parent that receives the child support is not obliged to report these payments on his/her income taxes.

Would you like to learn more about child support guidelines in California? Click here to contact the experts at Von Esch Law today!

There are strict laws that protect Californian employees from violations by their employers. These are the wage and hour laws. Some of the common violations include:

Failure to pay overtime

Failure to pay minimum wage

Exempting employees from their wage/hour requirements

Demanding for “work off the clock”

Failure to provide the required rest and breaks

If you suspect that your employer may be violating your wage/hour rights, then you can always look for a trained California employment lawyer to guide you through the whole process to file a wage/hour lawsuit.

Do the California wage/hour laws apply to you?

The California wage/hour laws apply to the non-exempt employees of California. What this means is that some laws on overtime and meal breaks will probably not apply if you are a independent contractor or an “exempt employee.”

Employees vs Independent contractors

Because these laws only cover California employees, you should not expect to be protected if you are an independent contractor.

You can find some employers attempting to evade payroll taxes by classifying some of their employees as independent contractors. Doing this will also exempt the employers from having to pay up the employee overtime and minimum wages should they deem so.

Exempt vs non-exempt employees

The California state laws say that the wage/hour laws do not apply to the exempt employees. These laws also do not apply to the administrative, executive, and professional employees. The employees who work in the software field, licensed surgeons and physicians, and also teachers are part of the exempt employees category. It is also not a rare case to find many employers classifying their non-exempt employees as exempt.

Minimum wage

It is the law that all non-exempt California employees ought to be paid the minimum wage. There are special exceptions, however, like the inclusion of exempt employees minus the independent contractors to be paid the minimum wage as per the state laws. You also need to realize that different counties and cities in California apply different minimum wages.

Overtime

It is also a California state law that all non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay.

Time and a half

It is the law that employers pay their non-exempt employees 1.5 times the regular pay rate for any overtime work done.

Double time and overtime

All the non-exempt employees that work for more than twelve hours on a single day are entitled to double overtime as per the California state law on wage/hour.

Rest and meal breaks

The wage/hour law also entitles all the non-exempt employees to regular rest and meal breaks.

Meal breaks

If you are a non-exempt employee in California who works for more than five hours, then you should know that you are entitled to a meal break of no less than 30 minutes. If you work more than 10 hours a day, it is the law that you receive two meal breaks that should go for no less than 30 minutes each.

Rest breaks

For every four hours of work, the California wage/hour law entitles all non-exempt employees with a 10-minute break.

Do you have a question about wage and hour laws in California? Click here to contact the experts at Von Esch today!